


Tried and Failed

by anythingbutregular



Category: We Bare Bears (TV)
Genre: Gay, Gay Male Character, M/M, bigfoot is gay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-26
Updated: 2019-05-26
Packaged: 2020-03-19 20:41:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,256
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18977974
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anythingbutregular/pseuds/anythingbutregular
Summary: Panda and Charlie's relationship has changed recently. That can't be debated. But what kind of change has occurred? Panda's been asking himself this ever since Charlie risked his life to save him from the toxic dump. When Charlie announces someone new in his life, Panda will have to rethink how he's always thought of his friend and his own self. Set a week after "Bubble." Prompt found on tumblr "I tried my best to not feel anything for you. Guess what? I failed.”





	Tried and Failed

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic to post on here. Hopefully I'll get better and more used to the formatting! This is also the first time I've written Panlie fanfiction so I hope you'll like it!

“This brunch is gonna be soo good!” Grizz rubbed his paws together excitedly.

Grizz reached for a strawberry atop the mountain of waffles, only to be swatted away by their youngest brother.

“No.” He said.

Grizz grumbled, rubbing his paw. Panda posed next to the waffles, taking multiple photos with multiple poses. Once satisfied, he scrolled through the photos to see which one he liked best. He nodded with satisfaction at his best one. Once it was posted, he turned back to the spread. Plenty of brunch foods laid out. All of them were made by his baby brother. It looked almost too good to eat! Almost.

“Man, where’s Charlie? I’m starved!” Panda’s stomach growled in agreement.

“Don’t worry, Pan-Pan! I’m sure he’ll be here soon.”

As if on cue, the door opened.

“Howdy, bears!” Charlie’s voice reached them from where he entered the cave.

“Charlie!” Grizz greeted him as he ducked into the kitchen.

“Hope y’all don’t mind I brought some food to share, too!” Charlie smiled broadly, holding the food secretly behind his back.

The bears leaned forward excitedly. Charlie pulled out a rusty pan covered in mounds of green moss. Everyone recoiled at the sight and smell of the...whatever those were.

“I made some moss biscuits! They’re pretty easy to make. Put some moss out into the sunlight until they got that nice dark color.”

Charlie beamed at them proudly. The bears hid their disgust with a smile. Charlie pulled out a broken jar of green slime.

“Also brought some algae jelly!” Charlie scooped some out with his hand and slapped it on a biscuit before chowing down.

They let out tiny noises of disgust, but thankfully kept the dinner from the night before down. Charlie shoved the tray closer, offering the biscuits to them. While they wanted to protest, one look at Charlie’s hopeful face told them they should try and humor him. Panda grabbed one first and choked it down. 

With tears in his eyes, Panda said, “Mhm! So...good?”

“Aw! I knew you’d like em Pan-man!” Charlie beamed at him.

“Well, uh,” Grizz swallowed his biscuit with a shiver. “Why don’t we get to eating?”

“Whoo boy! I’m starved!” Charlie took his seat between Panda and Grizz.

“Then let’s dig in!” Grizz whooped.

Happy munching and satisfied noises left the friends as they chowed down. Charlie told stories of what had happened to him since they last saw him at the “bubble incident.” Things had been different between Charlie and Panda after that. He couldn’t quite explain what was different, though. Charlie was still the huggable goofball he had been before. So what had changed? Panda looked down at his plate, dragging his fork through the syrup. Charlie had been-and always had been-willing to sacrifice himself for Panda. He was brave and strong. 

And annoying and goofy. Panda tacked on quickly, shoving some food quickly into his mouth.

“Oh! I forgot to tell ya’ll! I just met the most beautiful gal!” Charlie sighed dreamily.

Panda’s breakfast suddenly felt like a lead weight in his stomach. His fork paused halfway to his mouth. His food fell from the fork and back onto his plate. He could only stare wide eyed at Charlie-his food and hunger were now long forgotten.

“Oh-ho! Do we know her?” Grizz nudged Charlie playfully.

“Nope! We met after that one big ol hurricane!”

Yeah, well, she wasn’t the one with you during it. Panda found himself jabbing at his food.

“What’s she look like?”

“Well she’s large, has bright eyes, stripes-”

“I have stripes,” Panda grumbled, before realizing he had said that out loud where everyone could hear.

“You say something, Pan-Pan?”

Panda felt his face erupt in a blush as he realized all eyes were on him now. His brother’s looked quizzically at him, while Charlie did that adorable head tilt of his-wait, what?!

Oh no.

“N-nothing! I just said I have to...go to the bathroom!” Panda abruptly stood and rushed to the bathroom.

He locked the door behind himself. Stumbling towards the sink, Panda fumbled to turn on the faucet. He splashed cold water on his face, taking in deep breaths. The mirror reflected his pink cheeks and panicked-and sweaty-look.

He groaned, rubbing his cheeks. “Ugh! What is wrong with me?”

Charlie has a girlfriend and he didn’t tell anyone? At the very least, he would’ve told me! Panda gripped the sink’s edge a bit tighter. Why...why am I obsessed with this?

“You ok in there, bro?” Grizz’s knock nearly knocked the stripes off of Panda.

“Y-yeah! I’ll be out in a second!” Panda responded.

“Oh, ok.” Grizz’s voice still held a note of worry to it.

Once Panda heard Grizz’s pawsteps fade, he turned back to the mirror. His face was still flushed. Thoughts buzzed like bees in his head. He shook his head fervently, looking at the mirror to see his determination reflected back. He had to put these weird thoughts aside.

“It means nothing.” He told himself. “You just...don’t wanna lose any time with your friend. That’s it!”

He took in another breath, seeming to have calmed himself. He nodded at his reflection before exiting the bathroom. He gave himself another second to take in a deep breath before entering the kitchen.

“Hey Pan-Pan! How ya feeling?” Charlie smiled, though Panda noticed a hint of worry.

“I’m fine,” He gave a wobbly smile as he sat back down. “Did I...miss anything?”

“Charlie was just telling us more about Priscilla!” Grizz exclaimed as he licked some syrup off of his fork.

“Priscilla?” The name made bile rise in his throat.

“Yeah!” Charlie beamed. “I think you’d like her!”

I doubt it. He thought, slumping in his chair.

“Oh-ho man! You guys just gotta meet her!”

“That sounds-” Grizz was cut off by a sharp elbow to the ribs by his baby brother.

He grunted, discreetly nodding his head towards the sulking Panda. Realization slowly dawned on Grizz’s face. He mouthed “oooh.”

“Er, actually...we were...we uh…” Grizz fumbled for an excuse.

“Ice Bear needs more milk from the store.” He spoke up.

“Yes! That is right! We need...milk!” Grizz smiled a bit too broadly. “Maybe next time, Charlie?”

“Aw! But I really wanted to show you.” He frowned briefly before brightening. “Well, only one needs to go, right? How about I show you Pan-man?”

“What?! Me?!” Panda looked like he wanted to disappear.

“Well sure!” Charlie chuckled. “Now come on; don’t wanna keep her waiting!”

Charlie grabbed Panda’s paw and started to drag him out of the cave. Panda fought weakly, his heart thudding all too fast.

“N-no!” Panda cried. “I-I don’t-”

“Don’t be shy, Pumpkin! We can see her s-”

“No!” He cried with enough intensity to make Charlie pause outside the cave. “I don’t want to meet her!”

“O-oh!” Charlie released Panda’s paw to worriedly work his together. “If now’s not a good time-”

“Ugh! No time will be a good time!” Panda cried. “I don’t want to meet Priscilla-now or ever!”

Panda ran away from his brother and Charlie. He didn’t know where he was going, but he knew he just needed to get away to clear his head.

“Panda, wait!” Charlie’s voice came from behind.

Panda panted as he ran blindly through the forest. He finally broke through the trees and found his paws kicking at sand. He stopped as his paws hit water. Looking around, he realized he was at Charlie’s private lake. Too tired and emotionally distressed to find somewhere else to be, Panda sat down on the warm sand. Pulling his knees to his chest, he buried his head in his arms.

He knew it was a dingle move to yell at Charlie like that. Charlie was always being nice to him. He got him to his Chicken and Waffles reservation. He appreciated his art. He was always excited to see him. Heck, he risked his life to save him when he got stuck in his bubble!

Selfless, goofy, kind, gross, cute…

Charlie was his friend. Why would Panda want that to change? Why did he look at Charlie and want to be something more? It was crazy! Right?

Panda quickly wiped his eyes as he heard large footsteps coming his way. Charlie hesitated for a moment before sitting down beside him. He put a hand on Panda’s shoulder.

“Pan-Pan, if I was being too forward, I just wanna say I’m sorry and-”

“Ugh! It’s not that.” Panda grumbled.

“Then...what is it?”

“I just...I don’t know!” He finally cried. “Everything’s been weird lately!”

“What do ya mean?”

“That’s the problem! I don’t know! Something’s just...different! But it’s not you.” Panda put his head in his paws. “Maybe...maybe it’s...me?”

He rubbed his face, trying to collect his thoughts. He felt differently towards Charlie than he had before the “bubble incident.” It felt kinda similar to him and Lucy but...different still. He had tried to slow down on getting crushes on random girls and had succeeded. After that long break of not seeking out girls on his dating apps, he realized he had stopped looking for girls in any way. The only person he had been able to even think about was…

No. No way! Those buried feelings would stay buried if he had anything to say about it! What if this ruined their friendship? Charlie was dating someone and it was tearing Panda apart! He had tried and tried to ignore the budding crush he had growing within his chest. But that bud had grown and was now wrapped around every fiber of his being. It was unavoidable at this point.

“I tried, Charlie, I really did.” His voice cracked with emotion.

“Tried what, Pumpkin?”

“I tried my best to not feel anything for you. Guess what? I failed.” Panda grabbed at his head fur with frustration. “I tried so hard! I just can’t stop thinking about...what could’ve been.”

Charlie sat there, his mouth opening and closing. He only managed to let out a squeak in lieu of a response.

“That’s why I didn’t want to meet Priscilla; I was jealous you had a girlfriend.” Panda sighed. “Because...I wanted to be your special someone. Hearing you talk about how great she is made me so upset I couldn’t even think straight.”

He threw his hands up in the air. “I don’t even think I’m straight anymore!”

“Wait...you’re-?! I’m-?!” Charlie squawked.

“Yeah,” Panda turned his burning face away. “I’m sorry, Charlie...I have a crush on you. I know it can’t happen because of you and Priscilla, but-”

“Wait...Priscilla isn’t a girl! She’s my new home!” Charlie blinked in confusion.

“Wait, what?” Panda’s head shot up.

“Yeah! Here; let me show you!” Charlie grabbed Panda’s paw and pulled him through the forest.

At first, Panda thought they were going back to where Charlie’s last car/house had been. Instead, they took a sharp left and stopped near a stream. Panda squinted in the golden sunlight. He looked around, seeing a beautiful willow tree draping over the stream.

“Here we are!” Charlie motioned for Panda to come to him.

When Panda was next to Charlie, he moved some of the leaves to reveal the contents underneath. A huge, yellow vehicle that had apparently crashed into the tree sat under the tree. It was shrouded by the leaves, yet still let beautiful golden strands of sun come through.

“Priscilla’s...a bus.” Panda finally said.

“Of course!” Charlie grinned. “I’ll give you the grand tour!”

They climbed onto the bus together and looked around. Panda’s face grew warm at the sight of his painting sitting in the driver’s seat.

“Here she is!” Charlie said proudly. “There’s the living room, my bedroom, the kitchen, and the guest bedroom!”

He made a sweeping motion to the corners of the bus, all of which looked identical. It was definitely bigger than the old car/house. It had that cozy-home feel to it, despite not having literally any normal home things.

“Well, what do ya think?” Charlie turned back to him.

Panda gave a small smile that quickly faded to a small frown. Wow. He had really messed up. He sat down heavily on one of the bus seats.

“Ugh. I feel like such a dingle, now.” He sighed.

“Hey, don’t sweat it, Pumpkin.” Charlie sat down across from him.

“But I should’ve trusted you.” Panda rubbed the back of his head. “I got caught up in my own feelings I didn’t stop to consider yours. I’m sorry.”

Charlie took his hands in his own. “Apology accepted! I’m just glad you were able to express yourself! I love you, Panda!”

Panda smiled at that. A weight felt like it had been lifted from Panda. He could finally freely say it: he liked Charlie. It was new. It was exciting! What was going to happen next for them, now that his secret was out in the open?  
"I don't want this to change our friendship, though." Panda quickly said. "Because I get it if you don't feel the same-"

He suddenly felt a kiss on the top of his head. Panda's face erupted in a wide blush. He turned to Charlie, who took his hands in his own.

His eyes sparkled as he said, “I think you know how I feel, Panda.”

Panda offered a warm smile in return. This was the beginning of something new-his budding crush had now overtaken him. And to that he said "Take me."


End file.
